AI Engineer.
Little Rock.
$105,000
median salary, 21% below the national average
$78,000 to $137,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
Orbyt estimates AI Engineer pay in Little Rock at $105,000, within a range of $78,000 to $137,000. That is 21% below the national average. Little Rock's economy is driven by Walmart's nearby headquarters ecosystem, state government, healthcare, and logistics. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for AI Engineer in Little Rock, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $104,070 for Software Developers (SOC 15-1252) in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR metropolitan area, based on 1,590 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$61,990
25th percentile
$83,010
Median
$104,070
75th percentile
$127,960
90th percentile
$154,030
Workers surveyed
1,590
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Software Developers (SOC 15-1252) rather than AI Engineer specifically. The Little Rock range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 15-1252Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $95,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$68,000
to $84,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$89,000
to $110,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$116,000
to $137,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$131,000
to $163,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $43,000 to the total package.
Base
$105,000
Equity
$26,000
Bonus
$11,000
Signing
$6,000
Estimated total: $148,000
AI Engineer salary by company.
Total compensation estimates include base, equity, bonus, and signing. Ranges reflect mid to senior level. Derived from public H-1B LCA filings (DOL).
How Little Rock compares.
Little Rock, AR
$105,000
Cost of living: 18% below average
National Average
$133,000
Little Rock is $28,000 below
AI Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in Little Rock.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate an AI Engineer offer in Little Rock, understand the terrain. Little Rock's economy is driven by Walmart's nearby headquarters ecosystem, state government, healthcare, and logistics. The metro's extremely low cost of living means even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power. Tech jobs are growing as companies seek affordable alternatives to major metros. Hands on experience building AI powered products, familiarity with foundation models (GPT, Claude, Gemini), and ability to integrate AI into production systems are the biggest salary drivers. Engineers who understand both model fine tuning and application architecture are rare and highly compensated. Industry domain (health, finance, defense) adds further premiums.
Junior AI engineers start at $120,000 to $150,000, reaching mid level at $155,000 to $200,000 in two to three years. Senior AI engineers earn $200,000 to $280,000. Staff AI engineers and technical leads at top labs can exceed $400,000 in total compensation. Moving into AI architecture or CTO roles extends the ceiling further. In Little Rock, your dollars stretch further. Cost of living runs 18% below the national average, which means even a median salary buys a stronger lifestyle.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity at AI startups and labs can represent 30 to 50% of total compensation. Bonuses of 15 to 25% are typical. Signing bonuses of $30,000 to $100,000 are common at well funded companies. Benefits often include compute credits, research time, and conference travel budgets. And on the tax side: arkansas has a top income tax rate of 4.4%. Little Rock has no city income tax. The combination of low taxes and very affordable housing creates one of the best net pay environments in the country. When someone quotes you $105,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Reference the Walmart and Tyson ecosystem when negotiating. Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock employers benchmark against national corporate pay scales. The range for AI Engineers in Little Rock runs from $78,000 to $137,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An LLM Engineer in Little Rock earns $106,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in Little Rock is CTO at $253,000
- See all ai engineering roles tracked in Orbyt Intelligence
Common questions.
AI Engineer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Little Rock.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"AI Engineer Salary in Little Rock, AR." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/ai-engineer/little-rock
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